Event Details

Nobel Peace Prize nominees David Matas and David Kilgour investigate the organ trade in China and uncover one of the world's worst crimes against humanity.

Speakers:

Hon. David Kilgour

David Kilgour is a former Canadian cabinet minister, Member of Parliament, prosecutor, lawyer, author, columnist and human rights advocate.

First elected to Canada’s House of Commons in 1979, he was re-elected seven times for the south-east region of Edmonton, Alberta. While in Parliament, he served as Deputy Speaker and Chair of the Committees of the Whole House, and in Jean Chretien’s cabinet as Secretary of State for Latin America & Africa (1997-2002) and Secretary of State for Asia-Pacific (2002-2003). Currently, he is co-chair of the NGO Friends of a Democratic Iran, a director of the Ottawa Mission (for homeless men) Foundation, a director of the Helsinki-based NGO First Step Forum, and a Session member of Westminster Presbyterian Church.

In 2006, Mr Kilgour co-authored Bloody Harvest: Organ Harvesting of Falun Gong Practitioners in China alongside David Matas. Both Mr Kilgour and Mr Matas were nominated for the 2010 Nobel Peace Prize for this work.

He is a co-author of the 2016 investigative report An Update to Bloody Harvest and The Slaughter. The report meticulously examines the transplant programs of hundreds of hospitals in China, drawing on media reports, official propaganda, medical journals, hospital websites and a vast amount of deleted websites found in archives.

Dr. Charl Els

Charl Els, MBChB, FCPsych, MMedPsych (cum laude), ABAM, MROCC, is a psychiatrist, addiction specialist, and a medical review officer. Charl is in private practice in Edmonton, serves on the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine Guideline Committee and regularly conducts assessments on employees in a safety sensitive positions.He sits on the University of Alberta’s Health Research Ethics Board as well as on the advisory board for Physicians Against Forced Organ Harvesting (www.DAFOH.org).

Charl is an Associate Clinical Professor at the University of Alberta’s Department of Psychiatry and the John Dossetor Health Ethics Centre.